The World's First Trillionaire

Yahoo has an interesting article Who Will Be the Worlds First Trillionaire?

The article insists this can happen in the next 100 years:

That's a "1" followed by 12 zeroes. It sounds like a goal that Austin Powers’ arch nemesis Dr. Evil would shoot for but, according to Swiss financial services firm Credit Suisse, it could eventually become a reality for a select few worldwide. Not anyone you or I know, of course, but we’re on track to see our first trillionaire sometime in the next century.

Considering that the current "richest" person in the world isn't even worth 1/10 of a trillion dollars I find it hard to believe that someone will get there in the next 100 years. Considering that in the last 20 Years Bill Gates' (Currently Gates tops Forbes list) net worth has quadrupled, it seems far fetched that he can keep that pace of growth.

The article lists several other billionaires that could get there, but most of them are past middle age and Elon Musk is so far behind ($6 Billion) that even at 42 years old he isn't going to crack $1 trillion in his lifetime.

I don't see it happening in the next 100 Years, but I'd love some of you Monkeys to prove me wrong and tell me how it can be done...and who you think can do it.

 

How do other countries look at the millionaire/billionaire benchmark? Do they convert to USD? Like, a millionaire in China must be pretty common.

And while we're on the topic, why is a single Yen worth like 5 cents? Why don't they create a currency that equals 1,000 Yen or something? They'd save money on commas.

heister: Look at all these wannabe richies hating on an expensive salad. https://arthuxtable.com/
 

Is this a serious question? Incomes in China are much lower in terms of USD, and half a Yen can buy you a decent breakfast. A currency worth 1,000 Yen makes no sense when you wouldn't ever be able to spend 1,000 Yen in one go

 
GoldenCinderblock:

How do other countries look at the millionaire/billionaire benchmark? Do they convert to USD? Like, a millionaire in China must be pretty common.

And while we're on the topic, why is a single Yen worth like 5 cents? Why don't they create a currency that equals 1,000 Yen or something? They'd save money on commas.

Was going to downvote until I laughed out loud at the 'save money on commas' part

 

It will likely be someone in Russia or some other "developed" place that is shady in nature. When you consider that many of the oligarchs there are richer than Gates, however their wealth isn't always recognized by western countries due to how their wealth was created or other political reasons. It is said that some of them are worth north of 75 to 80 billion.

Follow the shit your fellow monkeys say @shitWSOsays Life is hard, it's even harder when you're stupid - John Wayne
 

This. The Forbes 400 and lists like it miss the majority of wealth in the world I think.

Current estimates say Putin could be worth as much as $70 bn. Gaddafi was at his peak worth a rumored $200 bn. Not to mention the families like Rockefeller whose fortune in1937 was anywhere from $400-700 bn in today's dollars.

 

I read this article. Basically said someone would have to have a series of home run tech ventures (like Zuck starting Facebook, then 4 other equally successful ventures). The roadblocks are mainly boredom and charity. Like there gets to be a point when money has no value or additional utility.

IMO, we will eventually have trillionaires, but when that happens a trillion will not be worth what we think it is today.

 
Sling Shot:

Precisely. A major breakthrough in any of genomic medicine, bioengineering, artificial intelligence, robotics, or energy (akin to a major nuclear fusion development) could easily vault one lucky entrepreneur to the coveted trillionaire milestone. Honestly, I would be somewhat surprised if this didn't occur within my lifetime.

With the direction our society is heading today, by the time that happens, anything of that magnitude will be made property of the state in the name of the "greater good of society" and the money to be made of those proportions by individuals from their own intellectual property will be wasted away by the never ending stream of incompetence that we call our federal government.

 
AcctNerd:

Yahoo has an interesting article Who Will Be the Worlds First Trillionaire?

The article insists this can happen in the next 100 years:

That's a "1" followed by 12 zeroes. It sounds like a goal that Austin Powers’ arch nemesis Dr. Evil would shoot for but, according to Swiss financial services firm Credit Suisse, it could eventually become a reality for a select few worldwide. Not anyone you or I know, of course, but we’re on track to see our first trillionaire sometime in the next century.

Considering that the current "richest" person in the world isn't even worth 1/10 of a trillion dollars I find it hard to believe that someone will get there in the next 100 years. Considering that in the last 20 Years Bill Gates' (Currently Gates tops Forbes list) net worth has quadrupled, it seems far fetched that he can keep that pace of growth.

The article lists several other billionaires that could get there, but most of them are past middle age and Elon Musk is so far behind ($6 Billion) that even at 42 years old he isn't going to crack $1 trillion in his lifetime.

I don't see it happening in the next 100 Years, but I'd love some of you Monkeys to prove me wrong and tell me how it can be done...and who you think can do it.

Forbes' Real time Billionaires watch shows Gates at 77.2bn today. Let's assume he lives until he's 85 (27 more years). To break $1Tn, he'd need just under a 10% ror. If Gates wasn't actively focused on charity, that would be very doable. Someone like Zuckerberg or Sergey Brin seems like a layup to break $1Tn.

Charity and wealth taxation seems like the only thing standing in the way of this in the next 25 years imho.

 
Houston_OG:
AcctNerd:

Yahoo has an interesting article Who Will Be the Worlds First Trillionaire?

The article insists this can happen in the next 100 years:

That's a "1" followed by 12 zeroes. It sounds like a goal that Austin Powers’ arch nemesis Dr. Evil would shoot for but, according to Swiss financial services firm Credit Suisse, it could eventually become a reality for a select few worldwide. Not anyone you or I know, of course, but we’re on track to see our first trillionaire sometime in the next century.

Considering that the current "richest" person in the world isn't even worth 1/10 of a trillion dollars I find it hard to believe that someone will get there in the next 100 years. Considering that in the last 20 Years Bill Gates' (Currently Gates tops Forbes list) net worth has quadrupled, it seems far fetched that he can keep that pace of growth.

The article lists several other billionaires that could get there, but most of them are past middle age and Elon Musk is so far behind ($6 Billion) that even at 42 years old he isn't going to crack $1 trillion in his lifetime.

I don't see it happening in the next 100 Years, but I'd love some of you Monkeys to prove me wrong and tell me how it can be done...and who you think can do it.

Forbes' Real time Billionaires watch shows Gates at 77.2bn today. Let's assume he lives until he's 85 (27 more years). To break $1Tn, he'd need just under a 10% ror. If Gates wasn't actively focused on charity, that would be very doable. Someone like Zuckerberg or Sergey Brin seems like a layup to break $1Tn.

Charity and wealth taxation seems like the only thing standing in the way of this in the next 25 years imho.

I seriously doubt Microsoft stocks, of which most of Gates net worth consists of, will be able to deliver 10% year after year cumulative returns for the next 27 years. If anything it is more likely that further technological disruptions may cause them to decline/go out of business at some point. MS has already lost much of its dominance in the PC market as Mac grew and Ubuntu and other Linux distros/open source environments are eating their lunch in the corporate server market. Serious technology companies like Google don't use microsoft products as do many government institutions.

Too late for second-guessing Too late to go back to sleep.
 

I wouldn't be surprised if some old money families that "fly under the radar" are already there. If you compound anything at 6% for over a hundred years...

There is a new book called "Capital in the 21st Century" by Piketty. It received good reviews. From what I understand, the thesis is that family dynastic wealth is increasing extremely quickly, and in the not too distant future...the US will look like Downton Abbey. The old capital versus labor argument on steroids.

Please don't quote Patrick Bateman.
 

Nominal value does not mean anything.

The title of the article should be: ''What will you be able to buy with a trillion dollar, a 100 years from now?''. The answer is: not a lot.

Hopefully though, by then, central banks will be something of the past, gold standard will be fully applied everywhere and we will have a couple of competing currencies (Bitcoin, Gold, Silver, etc.)

Dreaming is free, right?

 

I am pretty sure that there have been at least 20 trillionaires throughout history. Present day trillionaire could be Putin, as well as those rich families mentioned above.

Hell, Rockefeller had, based on wiki, some 700 bn back in the day. That is at least 1 tn in my book. When you think of all those emperors, kings, early-day bankers, etc... plenty of trillionaires id say.

 
animalz:

I am pretty sure that there have been at least 20 trillionaires throughout history. Present day trillionaire could be Putin, as well as those rich families mentioned above.

Hell, Rockefeller had, based on wiki, some 700 bn back in the day. That is at least 1 tn in my book.
When you think of all those emperors, kings, early-day bankers, etc... plenty of trillionaires id say.

This is wrong he had just under 700 billion adjusted into year 2000 dollars.

 
animalz:

I am pretty sure that there have been at least 20 trillionaires throughout history. Present day trillionaire could be Putin, as well as those rich families mentioned above.

Hell, Rockefeller had, based on wiki, some 700 bn back in the day. That is at least 1 tn in my book.
When you think of all those emperors, kings, early-day bankers, etc... plenty of trillionaires id say.

Do you have Google installed on your computer? You could try using it, instead of just making things up.

"John D. Rockefeller

On September 29, 1916, John D. Rockefeller became the first person to ever reach a nominal personal fortune of US$1 billion. Rockefeller amassed his fortune from the Standard Oil company, of which he was a founder, chairman and major shareholder. By the time of his death in 1937, estimates place his net worth in the range of US$392 billion to US$663.4 billion in adjusted dollars for the late 2000s (decade), and it is estimated that his personal fortune was equal to 1.53% of the total U.S. annual GDP in his day. When considering the real value of his wealth, Rockefeller is widely held to be the wealthiest person in history."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wealthiest_historical_figures

 

I remember the time when Gates was making a lot more than nowadays. At that point, it was forecasted that he would be a trillionaire in 2000s, but growth stopped. I am positive we will see a trillionaire soon, at least people, who are under 30 right now, will see that in their lifetime.

 

You can always be a trillionaire in Zimbabwe...

I mean a million today doesn't go as far as it did in the 50's and etc.

Substantial wealth creation takes a long time to build and maintain. I think after inflation adjustment, the ultra 0.1% percent isn't really that much richer than their predecessors before this century. (just a thought and am probably wrong on this)

 

My capabilities of becoming a trillionaire is great in theory, but not in reality. Case in point. (insert joke here)

I had to write a paper in middle school about the difference between theory and reality, and set about to ask my dad to explain the two. Dad told me to go ask my sister if she would sleep with the janitor at her high school for a trillion dollars. I did, and she said, "Of course I would for a trillion dollars!" I told my father the result, and he told me to ask my mother if she would sleep with the garbage man for a trillion dollars. I did, and she hesitated, but said, "As awful as it sounds, I absolutely would for a trillion dollars." I told my father what she said. He sat me down and said, "Son, here's the difference: In theory, WE'RE TRILLIONAIRES! But in REALITY, we just live with a bunch of whores."

"Decide what to be and go be it." - The Avett Brothers
 

It will be some 15 year old who gets funded through Y-combinator. He'll only be able to enjoy it for three years though, because they'll be going children of the corn on anyone who stays in tech past 18.

Instead of 40 year olds running around with IPhones and trendy gadgets to look young, 21 year olds will be applying special pro-acne solutions to their face to try and pass as 17.

 

Gates donated 30B to the Foundation. So his wealth growth does not suck as much as his haters wishes. Gates also has the biggest single family office in the world (Cascade) and as far as I know they're doing alright.

The article is weak in that it implies that diversification is good. Obviously, to get a random trillionaire, you want to increase risk. Who cares if bachelor #1 goes bankrupt? Maybe #2 will get the gazillions. As many mentioned here, single company entrepeneurs are more likely to get the first billion than some very wealthy closet indexer.

 

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